SuperValu has launched its 2021 partnership with the All Ireland Football Championship through an imaginative and bold setting of a target to increase participation across Gaelic Sports from groups that are currently underrepresented by 30 per cent by 2025.

New research published yesterday for the launch of SuperValu’s ‘Bring It On’ GAA campaign, has found that 65 per cent of respondents believe that diversity and inclusion in the GAA will have benefits for the wider community.

The research, which was carried out by Amarach Research on behalf of SuperValu, also showed;

 

  • 85% would like to see more players from a diverse background on their inter-county teams.

 

  • 47% feel that we are lacking role models from diverse communities in the GAA, 58% believe that sporting organisations, in general, are representative and mirroring of the true diversity in today’s modern Ireland.

 

  • Irish society is most inclusive towards age (48%) and gender (49%) while ethnic and disability lag behind in terms of importance at 17% and 19% respectively showing that we have work to do on moving the dial on our approach to inclusivity as a society.

 

  • LGBT+ is rated at 34% showing that we have moved the dial in recent years with more to be done.

 

The main barriers cited stopping members of diverse groups from getting involved in sports are a  perception of prejudice and discrimination.

The new campaign aims to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion in the GAA, and ultimately, the power of diversity in the community. It is backed up by a new TV ad, featured as today’s Sport for Business Daily Video, which includes a number of ambassadors who shared their own positive experiences of inclusivity in the GAA.

“The research findings show that Irish people believe overwhelmingly that a diverse society is a better society,” said  Sandra Healy, CEO of Inclusio, Founder of the Centre of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion at Dublin City University.

“As citizens, we all have a role to play in ensuring that we are all working towards full inclusion in all of our communities and breaking down any barriers that may exist. Our society benefits hugely from diversity and this campaign encourages all of us to come together and make full inclusion a reality.”

“We are delighted to be working with SuperValu once again and that they are using their sponsorship of the GAA and national reach to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion,” added Ger McTavish, GAA Inclusion and Diversity Officer.

“In the past number of years, we have been committed to enhancing diversity and inclusion within the GAA at all levels and we are committed to keeping this momentum going.”

“In recent years we’ve seen the success of campaigns to increase female participation in our games and we are delighted to be doing the same across Ireland’s diverse population, to promoting sport and physical activity to everyone regardless of age, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, nationality, or fitness level by committing to increasing GAA participation by 30% among diverse groups.”

“Today marks SuperValu’s 12th year of sponsoring the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, a long-standing partnership which we are incredibly proud of,” said SuperValu Marketing Director Ray Kelly.

“At SuperValu, we believe in community and in making communities better places and for us, community means including everyone.”

“As a society, we have come a long way when it comes to diversity and inclusion however there is still a way to go. Our research shows that 65% of respondents believe if the local GAA club is more diverse and inclusive it will also improve diversity and inclusivity within communities. Today’s research also highlights the importance of role models with 47% telling us that we are lacking role models from diverse communities in GAA.”

“We want to use our position as a leader in the community to start this conversation and use our position to support and encourage inclusive communities. We are investing over €1m in the ‘Bring It On’ campaign across TV, radio, billboards, bus shelters, digital and social media to drive the conversations, awareness and understanding. We believe in the power of community and our partnership with the GAA offers us a great opportunity to make our communities fuller, more diverse and more inclusive places.”

 

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